A wax recording of Enrico Caruso singing "Vesti la giubba" from Ruggero Leoncavallo's "I Pagliacci", was re-engineered many years ago by digital signal processing pioneer Thomas Stockham and his student Neil J. Miller at the University of Utah in an attempt to recreate the true sound of Caruso's voice. Charles Dodge used this recording in his early-1980s composition 'Any Resemblance is Purely Coincidental'. Caruso's remixed voice combined with an original accompanying piano composition (seen in performance at the North Carolina School of the Arts with piano played by Robert Suderburg) was a haunting piece that displayed a perfect mix of technology and music.
The Getz album I really loved was the one he did with JImmy Rowles ("The Peacocks") for Columbia. I have always hoped that in the digital age that album would get re-released with the tune with Lambert Hendricks and Ross vocal additions (Wayne Shorter's great "The Chess Players") in a supplemental track without the vocals. Getz's solo on that song is terrific and we should really get to hear it clearly. Of course it's too late now and no one cares. Sigh. (By the way, I am using "Lambert, Hendricks and Ross" as shorthand since that's the name the vocalists used when they were semi-famous in earlier years. By this album, they are, in fact, Lambert, Hendricks and Hendricks.)
The two musicians who inspired my love of jazz were Dave Brubeck and Stan Getz. I've discovered all the other great with the passage of time, of course, but those two were my lodestars when I was young and discovering this great music. All I will say is that Kenny G is an astute businessman. I'll leave it at that...
Can't imagine any great artist being okay with someone else inserting images into one of their works and then claiming this is somehow a 'joint work' -- while some folks' might justify this by 'its getting more people to know Getz' -- its not in the way that Getz would've wanted his work to be heard; respect the creator.
Although I am not a fan of Kenny G in some ways he is a gateway drug who opened up the doors of jazz to a wider audience which raised the tide for everyone! Excuse the mixed metaphor but he has helped introduce many lesser known musicians to a much wider and deserving audience.
Kenny G cannot shine Stan Getz his saxophone much less play with him. As a fan of Stan’s, I would say that Stan was a true player and Kenny is a true noodler. This whole project is truly a really bad idea!
I just noticed that there is a new film (currently on HBO) called Listening to Kenny G. Metacritic says this this one sentence summary: "An examination of the most popular instrumentalist of all time, Kenny G, and why he is polarizing to so many."
About 20 years ago, I went on a business trip in Asia ... Tokyo to Taiwan to Singapore to Kuching, Malaysia to Singapore to Manila to Tokyo ... before returning to Washington, D.C. No matter where I got into a taxi cab in these Asian cities, it seemed that Kenny G was on the radio. It really didn't make me cringe so much as it just made feel truly amazed this was the music that had conquered the world. The musical equivalent of Twinkies.
when i played and recorded with stan in the early 70 s with jack dejohnette and dave holland while we were endlessly travelling around the world on tours we often talked about musicians ,,mor i should say stan talked and i listened ,,he LOVED early and middle trane ,,he talked about a players SOUND more than anything he LOVED MILES SOUND AND BILL EVANS ,,of course he did play with trane in 1960 in some kind of special tour etc
he loved bills SOUND AND PLAYING OF COURSE ,never forget GEORGE MRAZ !!
kenny g is a plague ,,what he is doing is like musical necrophillia
i hope stans estate got millions for permission
i leaned the most as a young mofo from stan chet jack and dave and tony lieb abercrombie and george
It really seems like we, as a culture, have just accepted that nothing good will ever be new (see this story and all the movie remakes) so we're forever digging in the past and trying to recreate its magic ... Can we just focus on the present and future talent that we do have? Instead of making these odd and often disrespectful copies of people.
Not very happy about this project. Kenny G? I would be happier with Grover Washington Jr. smooth jazz and smooth jazz but what a difference…. Anyhow even putting these two names side by side on a record is repulsive.
We are building AI in our own image and likeness. It seems to me that compared to the other arts, music (since Pythagoras, thanks Ted) can be reduced to data and analyzed pretty directly. In other words, overlaying any musicians lifetime output upon a new song structure has a good chance of passing the Turing test.
A wax recording of Enrico Caruso singing "Vesti la giubba" from Ruggero Leoncavallo's "I Pagliacci", was re-engineered many years ago by digital signal processing pioneer Thomas Stockham and his student Neil J. Miller at the University of Utah in an attempt to recreate the true sound of Caruso's voice. Charles Dodge used this recording in his early-1980s composition 'Any Resemblance is Purely Coincidental'. Caruso's remixed voice combined with an original accompanying piano composition (seen in performance at the North Carolina School of the Arts with piano played by Robert Suderburg) was a haunting piece that displayed a perfect mix of technology and music.
The Getz album I really loved was the one he did with JImmy Rowles ("The Peacocks") for Columbia. I have always hoped that in the digital age that album would get re-released with the tune with Lambert Hendricks and Ross vocal additions (Wayne Shorter's great "The Chess Players") in a supplemental track without the vocals. Getz's solo on that song is terrific and we should really get to hear it clearly. Of course it's too late now and no one cares. Sigh. (By the way, I am using "Lambert, Hendricks and Ross" as shorthand since that's the name the vocalists used when they were semi-famous in earlier years. By this album, they are, in fact, Lambert, Hendricks and Hendricks.)
What did Getz think about Coltrane?
This is going to be the hottest trend, Yanni is going to do a collaboration with Charlie Parker that's gonna blow your socks off!
The two musicians who inspired my love of jazz were Dave Brubeck and Stan Getz. I've discovered all the other great with the passage of time, of course, but those two were my lodestars when I was young and discovering this great music. All I will say is that Kenny G is an astute businessman. I'll leave it at that...
Richard Thompson:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucgZQGPZOpk
Can't imagine any great artist being okay with someone else inserting images into one of their works and then claiming this is somehow a 'joint work' -- while some folks' might justify this by 'its getting more people to know Getz' -- its not in the way that Getz would've wanted his work to be heard; respect the creator.
Although I am not a fan of Kenny G in some ways he is a gateway drug who opened up the doors of jazz to a wider audience which raised the tide for everyone! Excuse the mixed metaphor but he has helped introduce many lesser known musicians to a much wider and deserving audience.
Kenny G cannot shine Stan Getz his saxophone much less play with him. As a fan of Stan’s, I would say that Stan was a true player and Kenny is a true noodler. This whole project is truly a really bad idea!
I just noticed that there is a new film (currently on HBO) called Listening to Kenny G. Metacritic says this this one sentence summary: "An examination of the most popular instrumentalist of all time, Kenny G, and why he is polarizing to so many."
About 20 years ago, I went on a business trip in Asia ... Tokyo to Taiwan to Singapore to Kuching, Malaysia to Singapore to Manila to Tokyo ... before returning to Washington, D.C. No matter where I got into a taxi cab in these Asian cities, it seemed that Kenny G was on the radio. It really didn't make me cringe so much as it just made feel truly amazed this was the music that had conquered the world. The musical equivalent of Twinkies.
when i played and recorded with stan in the early 70 s with jack dejohnette and dave holland while we were endlessly travelling around the world on tours we often talked about musicians ,,mor i should say stan talked and i listened ,,he LOVED early and middle trane ,,he talked about a players SOUND more than anything he LOVED MILES SOUND AND BILL EVANS ,,of course he did play with trane in 1960 in some kind of special tour etc
he loved bills SOUND AND PLAYING OF COURSE ,never forget GEORGE MRAZ !!
kenny g is a plague ,,what he is doing is like musical necrophillia
i hope stans estate got millions for permission
i leaned the most as a young mofo from stan chet jack and dave and tony lieb abercrombie and george
richie beirach
I agree with everything you said, Ted. This is a very bad idea.
It really seems like we, as a culture, have just accepted that nothing good will ever be new (see this story and all the movie remakes) so we're forever digging in the past and trying to recreate its magic ... Can we just focus on the present and future talent that we do have? Instead of making these odd and often disrespectful copies of people.
Not very happy about this project. Kenny G? I would be happier with Grover Washington Jr. smooth jazz and smooth jazz but what a difference…. Anyhow even putting these two names side by side on a record is repulsive.
Are you kidding me… Kenny who?
We are building AI in our own image and likeness. It seems to me that compared to the other arts, music (since Pythagoras, thanks Ted) can be reduced to data and analyzed pretty directly. In other words, overlaying any musicians lifetime output upon a new song structure has a good chance of passing the Turing test.
So horrible. Surprise that Stan did not mention Kenny Barron who he played with so wonderfully